'Remember Her' A tribute to Nia Wilson

Nia Wilson was just 18 years old when she was killed in an unprovoked stabbing at MacArthur BART station in Oakland. Fighting through sorrow, her friends, family, and the community at large are mourning the teenager who brightened the lives of those she knew, and has inspired many who never got the chance. (Nia Wilson/Facebook)

Officials say on Sunday, July 22, John Cowell changed Nia and her family's lives forever when he attacked her and her sister Letifah on the MacArthur BART platform as they tried to make their way home from a family gathering.

Family and friends tell ABC7 that Nia had high hopes of starting her own makeup line, opening a dance studio, and even going into the criminal justice field. The ambitious young woman was beloved by friends and family and they are beyond heartbroken that she is gone.

"Remember her for her, not what you hear," Nia's older sister Letifah, who was wounded in the BART attack. "That was my little sister. Loving, caring, helped any and everybody."

Keri Bawcum, a young woman who didn't know Nia very well, was touched by her death and vowed to get her name out to people so she could be remembered. "She was young. She was 18," she said. "She hasn't even seen life. She deserves justice."